Thurrock Marching Brass Win Soundsport Silver

Thurrock Marching Brass travelled to the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire on Saturday 30 April 2016 to compete in what is being hailed as the future of indoor competition, the Drum Corps Europe (DCE) / Drum Corps International (DCI) sponsored Indoor Music Games and Soundsport.

The young members of Thurrock Marching Brass entered the Soundsport competition, and were competing against a wide variety of performances from ATC Corps to Brass Bands where all programs were adjudicated by three European qualified DCE judges in the areas of Visual, Music and Overall Impression. Never before has there been a platform for acts of any type, shape and age to compete on an equal playing field, and there was genuine excitement mounting as the show prepared to commence.

With their Winter Theatre Show entitled, Under New Management, which extends the storyline of the original smash hit motion picture Bugsy Malone, Thurrock Marching Brass performed third from a group of five in their class. I think it is fair to say that the appreciative West Country audience were not expecting a program so visually impactful and a performance so theatrical from a team with an average age is a little under 10 years. This performance was to introduce a new program for the organisation that saw their winter program change direction, and so there were some nerves as to how this would be received by everyone.

With a slight technical hitch at the start of the program, owing to a simple issue of actually plugging in the audio soundtrack lead, it was clear that everyone was there to enjoy whatever was about to happen. A great ice breaker for sure as our Chairman joked with the audience that “it would help if we plugged it in I guess”, to which a thunderous room full of laughter followed and a unique round of applause for the technical diagnosis.

Any worries were soon dashed as the youngsters effortlessly performed one of the most enjoyable shows that the talented staff have put together so far, and the entire performance was greeted with applause and admiration from everyone present.

A silver award on the day, with the Gold and Soundsport champion of the day going to the amazing Cinderford Brass Band – who were just incredible, was a well deserved recognition for this very hard working team of youngsters. What a great day all round, very well run, and with a format that is sure to open up so many opportunities for all sorts of performers and acts to come along and compete in a friendly, professional and appreciative environment.

Thurrock Marching Brass is delighted to confirm that they have spoken to the organisers and are looking into running a show in Essex. More details on that will follow once available.

Jay Lindner, Corps Director of Thurrock Marching Brass had this to say about the event “You never know what to expect with something new like the IMG/Soundsport event, but I can honestly say that it was a refreshingly positive experience for everyone involved. I can really see this type of indoor event taking off here in the UK and elsewhere and I really look forward to taking part in many more of these types of events in the future. Our young members just blew me away yet again with their ability to turn on a great performance, and all their hard work really paid off for them by securing a Silver Award on the day. My congratulations to the remarkable Cinderford Brass Band who were just brilliant and worthy champions on the day. I can’t thank the organisers, and all those that made us feel so welcome in the West Country enough. It was a great atmosphere and also good for our members to experience different types of performances too. It takes a lot of hard work not only by the members but by so many dedicated staff, parents and supporters to make productions like Under New Management work and to be able to take on the road. So to all of them, a huge thank you for all that you do. I couldn’t be any prouder right now of each and every member for what they have achieved”.

Thurrock Marching Brass is proud to perform as much as they can within the community and you can keep up to date with all their engagements on our website below or by following them on Facebook.

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